Post-operation belt



y 1952 c. A. MULLER POST-OPERATION BEL-T Filed May 24, 1948 Patented May 13, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,596,275 ros'r-orenA'rron BELT Caroline A. Muller, Minneapolis, Minn. Application May 24, 1948, Serial No. 28,890

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a belt and particularly to a belt constructed and arranged to be worn by patients in a hospital and particularly after having had an abdominal operation or after a child birth.

It has been the practice in hospitals to cover the wound or incision after an operation and one common method of holding the covering in place is to use adhesive tape extending across the covering and adhering to the skin of the patient. The adhesive from the tape adheres to the skin and it is sometimes painful to have the tape removed from the skin. Bandages extending about the body are seldom used as it is too inconvenient to remove them to examine the wound or incision.

It is an object of this invention to provide a simple and efficient belt which can be comfortably and conveniently worn by the patient to hold the covering of the incision or wound in place or to restore and hold the body in shape after a child birth.

It is a further object of the invention to pro vicle a belt adapted to be worn after an operation, said belt comprising a strip of strong fabric of a width to cover the abdomen, said belt extending about the body of the patient, having a plurality of fastening means at the front thereof, said belt having a smooth inner side and preferably having spaced stiffening means at its outer side particularly at the ends and at the rear thereof.

It is further an object of this invention to provide a post-operation belt adapted to extend about the abdominal part of the wearers body to hold the wound covering in place, said belt having a plurality of fastening means at its front including straps and a plurality of buckles operating therewith, said buckles being readily detachable from said belt so that said belt can be laundered.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be fully set forth in the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of the belt in operative position on the body of the wearer;

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the belt shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of the rear side of the belt in extended form;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a buckle used; and

Fig. 5 is a partial horizontal section taken substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. l, as indicated by the arrows.

to one of the stiffening means I2.

Referring to the drawings a structure of belt is shown comprising a strip of fabric ID. Said strip will be made of strong flexible fabric, such as light canvas or similar material. While the exact shape of the belt might vary in practice, in the embodiment of the invention illustrated strip II] is shown as having slightly curved convex substantially parallel sides, as shown in Fig.

3. Said strip ID will preferably have a hem or double thickness Illa and I lib at either side thereof held by stitching Iild, the edges of strip I 0 being turned outwardly, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. stiffening means II are provided at the rear of the belt, the same extending transversely thereof in slightly diverging or substantially parallel relation, said stiffening means being made of superposed layers of fabric stitched to the strip Ill. Said stiffening means are thus very flexible and foldable. stiffening means I2 are provided at the ends of strip I0 and these may be of the same character as the stiffening means I I. A flap I 3 is secured to one end of the strip I0 and A plurality of straps I4 are provided, said straps being disposed in equally spaced relation transversely of strip I0 and secured to one end of strip I0. At the other end of said belt a plurality of loops l5 are secured in spaced relation to the end of strip Ill and a buckle I 6 is secured in each of said loops. Buckle It has a substantially rectangular frame with a movable bar I6a thereon being toothed or corrugated at one side to cooperate with a toothed or corrugated portion IBb on one end portion of said buckle. Buckle I 6 has at one side, portions Iiic having an opening IBd t'herebetween, portions I extending parallel to one end member I6e of said buckle. The portions I60 are disposed in the fabric loops I5.

In operation, after the patient has had his operation and the covering is applied to the wound or incision, the belt will be placed around the body of the wearer and over the said covering, the straps I4 being engaged in the buckles I5 and the belt drawn to snug position. Straps I 4 will be engaged by bar I 6a against the teeth or corrugations Ifib so as to be held in stationary position with the belt closed. The straps and buckles will overlie the flap I3 which will extend between the ends of the belt and beneath the same in contact with the body of the wearer. The stiffening means and portions of increased thickness ltd and Ifib will be disposed at the outer side of the belt so that the inside of the belt is quite smooth. The belt holds the covering of the wound in place so that it will not move or shift and the belt also holds the abdominal 3 7 part of the patient in rather definite form so that there is no tendency to displace the covering. The belt really adds to the comfort of the patient. In order that the belts may be readily laundered, as will be necessary in a, hospital, the buckles it are constructed so that the can be readily detached. The buckles can be very quickly and easily detached from the loops by moving the edge of each loop through the opening I611. The buckles can likewise be very readily placed in position by moving the edges of the loops through the openings ltd so that portions I60 engagethe inside and end of said loops. The belt also has great utility after cases of childbirth. l t-is desirable to restore and hold the abdominal part of the body in normal shape. The present 'lael't has proven exceptionally efiicient for this purpose and eliminates the necessity for binding with bandages or strips. The belt can be nicely adjusted to bring the body to the desired iorm. From the above description i'twi'll be seen that I have provided a novel, simple and very efficient device to be 'usedjfor patients after having had an operation. The device l'lll's a long 'felt'want and is being enthusiastically received by surgeons and hospitalstai'fs. The use of the device eliminates the necessity for the adhesive tape. The wound can be very quickly examined by merely opening the belt by releasing the straps I'd. The wound is -protected "and the covering kept in better shape than when the adhesive tape was used, as the belt holds the abdominal part of the body in definite form and prevents wrinkling due to movements-of the patient.

The device has been amply tested in actual practice, found to be very successful and emcient and is being commercially made. a

It will of course be understood that various changes'may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts, without departing from the scope of applicants invention, which generally stated, consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects above set forth, in'the parts and combinations of parts disclosed and defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An abdominal belt for holding a wound covering in place after an abdominal -0pera'tibn comprising an elongated continuous strip made of a single thickness of strong White ilex-iblencnelastic canvas fabric, said strip having a Width to extend over theabdomen of the wearer and substantially to the crotch, said strip having curved substantially parallel sides, a narrow strip of foldable fabric extending across one end of .said strip and stitched thereto, spaced loops stitched to said end extending longitudinally of said first mentioned strip, removable buckles having a portion received in 'said loops and readily removable therefrom, a second narrow strip extending across said first mentioned strip spaced from the other end thereof and stitched thereto,

"spaced straps extending longitudinally of said said wound covering will be held securely in place and said "buckles may readily be removed so that said'belt can be laundered.

, '2. The structure set forth in claim 1, said belt having stitched lieins at its longitudinal edges,

the edges of said first mentioned strip being at the outer side "thereof and said plurality of narrow 's'trip's divergingdownwardly.

CAROLINE A. MULLER.

nnnennnpns circle The following references are of record in the tile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 815,056 ifirbadie-Leotard Mar. 13, 1906 1,646,590 mldenberg Oct. 25, 1927 1, 8'6 0'20 2 Beisma h- May 24, 1932 1,995,906 Lceb May 16, 1933 2320339 Hocli June 14, 1938 OTHER REFERENCES Montgomery Ward 'Gatalog, Fall 81 Winter 1 9474948, page 293, Figure B. 

